A very quick moving winter storm affected Eastern Pennsylvania during the first half of the day on December 9th. Snow began falling between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. EST and fell heavy at times between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST. In and close to Philadelphia, freezing rain mixed in with the snow from 7 a.m. EST until the precipitation ended around 10 a.m. EST. Precipitation went back to snow during heavier precipitation bursts. All precipitation ended across Eastern Pennsylvania between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. EST. Snowfall accumulations ranged from around three inches in the local Philadelphia area to around 12 inches in the Poconos. Ice accretions around Philadelphia averaged around one-quarter of an inch.  Many school districts either never opened for the day or had delayed openings. There were numerous fender benders throughout the eastern part of the state as the heaviest snow could not have come at a more inopportune time, just before and during the morning commute time. Commutes averaged twice as long. About 10 percent of the flights scheduled from Philadelphia International Airport were cancelled. There was one reported weather related fatality. A 63-year-old woman was killed when she lost control of her vehicle near Den Road in Franklin Township (Chester County) and slid into the northbound lane of Pennsylvania State Route 896. The roadway was closed for three hours. In neighboring Montgomery County, 157 accidents were reported. This included a truck that slid into a commuter train in Lower Moreland Township. The SEPTA R3 line was shut down for one hour. In Berks County, numerous spin-outs and accidents were reported, even after the roads were cleared. Sections of Pennsylvania State Routes 61 and 183 and southbound U.S. Route 222 near Kutztown were closed because of accidents. The most serious reported accidents were at the intersection of Pennsylvania State Routes 12 and 73 in Ruscombmanor Township and on Pennsylvania State Route 100 in Washington Township. In Northampton County, in Easton a vehicle nearly skidded in to the Lehigh River. The snow also hampered firefighting efforts. In Salford Township (Montgomery County), nine people were homeless after their house on Hausman Road burned to the ground. The combination of the heavy snow, the house sitting on top of a hill at the end of a narrow road made access to the blaze difficult for firefighters. The combination of the snow and cold weather made many county health officials extend their "code blue" weather alerts. Specific accumulations included in Berks County 9.5 inches in Stony Run, 8.5 inches in Fleetwood and 8.0 inches in Reading; in Bucks County 9.5 inches in Springtown, 8.0 inches in New Hope and 6.5 inches in Perkasie; in Carbon County 12.0 inches in Albrightsville, 11.6 inches in Lehighton and 11.0 inches in Weatherly; in Chester County 9.0 inches in Coatesville and Downingtown, 7.5 inches in Glenmoore and 6.0 inches in West Chester; in Delaware County 3.8 inches in Chadds Ford and 3.5 inches in Havertown; in Lehigh County 10.5 inches in Alburtis, 9.1 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 8.3 inches within Allentown, 8.0 inches in Whitehall Township and 7.8 inches in Macungie; in Monroe County 14.0 inches in Pocono Summit, 12.0 inches in East Stroudsburg and 11.0 inches in Saylorsburg; in Montgomery County 7.8 inches in Trappe, 7.0 inches in Palm, 5.8 inches in King of Prussia and 4.0 inches in Wynnewood; in Northampton County 10.0 inches in Forks Township, 9.0 inches in Easton and 8.3 inches in Bethlehem and in Philadelphia 3.5 inches in Roxborough, 2.9 inches at Holme Circle and 2.2 inches at Philadelphia International Airport.   The winter storm was caused by the combination of a vigorous upper low from the Midwest and a Gulf of Mexico connection of moisture and low pressure systems. Two low pressure systems formed, one in response to the upper system in the Ohio Valley and one in the northeast Gulf of Mexico on Thursday the 8th. On Friday morning the 9th, the Ohio Valley low pressure system moved into the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico low pressure system moved northeast to the North Carolina coast. A third low pressure system formed in response to the strong upper level support on the Delmarva Peninsula. The low pressure system along the Delmarva Peninsula became the primary low as both the Great Lakes and North Carolina Coast lows weakened. The Delmarva low pressure system rapidly intensified during the day on Friday the 9th. It went from 1009 millibars just west of the Long Island Buoy at 10 a.m. EST on the 9th, to a 996 mb low just south of Rhode Island at 1 p.m. EST on the 9th to about a 988 mb low between Masachusetts and Nova Scotia at 7 p.m. EST. At 7 a.m. EST on Saturday the 10th, the low was at least 979 mb just south of Newfoundland. In 24 hours the low deepened by about 36 millibars. In spite of its quick movement and the late intensification, heavy snow still fell across most of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Heavy Snow in MONROE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 10:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 10:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in BUCKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 07:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 09:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 09:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in DELAWARE, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 08:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 09:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 07:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 09:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 07:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 09:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow in BERKS, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 10:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow in CARBON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 10:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 09-DEC-05 06:00:00 to 09-DEC-05 10:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER